Thomas O. Crist

Professor and Chair

Biographical Information

I am a terrestrial ecologist with interests in how landscape changes by human activities influence biodiversity, species interactions and ecosystem services. Our research lab focuses on insects and their interactions with plants, soils, and other animals. Recent research has focused on ecosystem services provided by diverse insect communities, including pollination, biological control, and cultural services. A long-term experimental study in the Miami Natural Areas is aimed at understanding how litter-dwelling invertebrates are influenced by the interactions among deer, an invasive understory shrub, and exotic earthworms. Past research projects have spanned a wide range of spatial scales from experimental to landscape studies, and habitats including conservation grasslands, forests, and agroecosystems. In the laboratory, we use a wide range of quantitative tools including statistical modeling, spatial analysis, and geographic information systems.

Courses Taught

BIO 209 Fundamentals of Ecology

BIO 312 Invertebrate Zoology

BIO/MBI 333 Field Ecology

BIO 400 Capstone Seminar in Biodiversity

BIO/MBI 671 Population and Community Ecology

Recent Publications

Crist, TO and KU Campbell. In press. Ant biodiversity and functional roles in fragmented forest and grassland ecosystems of the agricultural Midwest, North America. Book chapter forthcoming in Ant-Plant Interactions: Impacts of Humans on Terrestrial Ecosystems. Cambridge University Press.

Campbell, KU and TO Crist. 2017. Ant species assembly in constructed grasslands is structured by patch and landscape level processes. Insect Conservation and Diversity 10: 180-191.

Zhang J, PJ Hou, and TO Crist. 2014. Partitioning of alpha and beta diversity using hierarchical Bayesian models of species distribution and abundance. Environmental and Ecological Statistics 21: 611-625.

Crist TO and VE Peters. 2014. Landscape and local controls of insect biodiversity in conservation grasslands: implications for the conservation of ecosystem service providers in agricultural environments. Land 3: 693-718.

Department of Biology

Students in undergraduate and graduate programs learn biological concepts taught by dedicated faculty and gain hands-on research experiences in the laboratory and field using first-class equipment, centers, and facilities. Our graduates pursue a wide variety of career paths in health, biotechnology, the environment, and plant science.